Bang Upon The Big Drum

Traditional

1 When first I went a soldier,

  With pike upon my shoulder,
  There wasn’t any bolder in the corps boys-oh.
  And when I walked abroad,
  All the pretty girls would wink at me.
  The ladies can’t resist a jolly soldier.

2 Bang upon the big drum

  Crash upon the cymbals,
  We’ll sing as we go marching along boys-oh.
  And although on this campaign,
  There’s no whisky or champagne
  Still we’ll keep our spirits going with a song boys.

3 And when we got the route,

  And for ……we set out,
  With the girlies flocking round us to the dock boys-oh.
  So we gave three hearty cheers,
  For the pretty little dears,
  And we hope that each one gets another soldier.

4 Bang upon the big drum

  Crash upon the cymbals,
  We’ll sing as we go marching along boys-oh.
  And although on this campaign,
  There’s no whisky or champagne
  Still we’ll keep our spirits going with a song boys.

5 And now I’ll say goodbye,

  For I’m feeling rather dry,
  And I see a comrade waiting with his song boys-oh.
  So here’s good luck to all,
  And promotion soon and “batter” money,
  That’s the sort of ticket for a soldier.

6 Bang upon the big drum

  Crash upon the cymbals,
  We’ll sing as we go marching along boys-oh.
  And although on this campaign,
  There’s no whisky or champagne
  Still we’ll keep our spirits going with a song boys.

From the collection Songs From Hazzards Huzzah